


'Twas the Night Before Christmas

by celeste9



Category: Primeval
Genre: Christmas Party, F/F, F/M, Humor, M/M, Snark, Some Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-27
Updated: 2014-12-27
Packaged: 2018-03-03 20:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2886977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While half the ARC is at Christmas party, the other half find themselves preoccupied with an anomaly inside the ARC.</p>
            </blockquote>





	'Twas the Night Before Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Basched](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Basched/gifts).



> This is a Secret Santa for basched. I fit in a bunch of your prompts as well as most of your pairings, haha, I hope you enjoy it! Thanks to clea2011 for looking it over at the last minute. Also, I am not the best at juggling large casts of characters and it was getting kind of unwieldy for me, so please feel free to imagine that Nick, Stephen, Claudia, and Danny are off vacationing somewhere together, or whatever you want them to be doing. :D

Jess stared at her monitors and sighed. It was Christmas Eve. She should be doing something fun.

She should be at the fancy Christmas party with Lester and Matt and Jenny and everyone. Well, not everyone. Ryan was there, and Emily. But not Jess, oh no. Jess was here. At the ARC. Monitoring.

She sighed again.

Jess would have _loved_ to go to the party. It was going to be filled with important people who were theoretically going to want to give money to the ARC. She could have worn a new dress, and new shoes, and had her hair done, and it would have been brilliant. Like being a princess going to a ball. Jess liked people and parties and she was certain she would have made a good impression.

Everyone else had complained about going. Becker had never been so quick to defer to Ryan before. He had rather happily pointed out that Ryan not only outranked him, but also had the edge in things like experience and time at the ARC, and thus he would be the most suitable military representative (Lester had agreed). Jess had noticed that Ryan’s stoic expression slipped momentarily in the face of Becker’s faintly mocking deference and smugness.

Lester had given Matt no choice in the matter, as he was the team leader, and he had decided Emily would be best able to navigate the formality of the thing. They were both too reserved for outward displays of disappointment, but Jess could tell they weren’t pleased. Jenny of course had to go, given her role in public relations, and she was no doubt used to that sort of thing, but she had looked rather wistfully at the Chinese takeout menu Jess had left out at her station.

Actually, Jess had to admit that Connor had wanted to go as well. He had seemed quite excited at the prospect of all the free food, but Lester had shot him down before he could even finish forming the question. He hadn’t cheered back up again until Abby had told him they could have pizza and beer over video games in the rec room instead. Connor had been suitably impressed by this offer. Abby generally had to be begged and cajoled to play any sort of video game.

That’s what they were doing now, the two of them plus Sarah. Technically they were all off duty, but the TV in the ARC was nicer than the one in Connor and Abby’s flat (Jess wasn’t entirely certain why it had been deemed necessary that they have a wide-screen TV in the ARC, but apparently it had something to do with Danny). If Jess pulled up the CCTV for the rec room on her monitors she could see that they were all laughing and having a grand old time. Just like Jess would have been having had she been at the party.

No one was trying to cheer Jess up. After Lester and the rest had left, all dressed up, Becker had come over and said, “Perhaps Lester will bring you back a piece of cake.”

Jess had glowered at him until he retreated.

She had eaten some chocolate, though. Cadbury’s Caramel. Lovely, but not even that had cheered her any.

As Jess stared at the screens with her chin in her hand, the alarm started to go off. “Just perfect,” she grumbled, and went to work.

-

Lester stood in the dining hall amidst the crowd of well-dressed people, adjusting his cuffs. The room was festooned with decorations, bright lights and trailing ivy and a large Christmas tree, festively wrapped empty boxes spread beneath it. No doubt it was all meant to encourage holiday cheer and the spirit of giving.

Lester felt more like grabbing the nearest piece of ivy and strangling himself with it.

“No longer being forced to attend dreadful dinner parties and balls had been one of the most appealing aspects of remaining in the twenty-first century,” Emily remarked.

“If I am forced to suffer them, by God I won’t suffer alone,” Lester said without sympathy. “And you are already trained.”

“Isn’t Becker? I thought his family was wealthy. Yet I don’t see him here.”

“Becker went through an unfortunate rebellious phase. As I understand it, his parents have never recovered, and neither has society.”

Emily raised an eyebrow.

“I heard it from Matt.”

“Ah,” Emily said.

Lester watched Jenny gracefully bow out of a conversation with two gentlemen past their prime and snag a glass of champagne from a passing waiter as she came over to join him and Emily.

“My face hurts from all this smiling,” she said, drinking the champagne more quickly than was respectable.

“Better than your soul hurting from not being able to say what you truly think of all these… people,” Lester said.

Emily and Jenny shared a look.

“Surely you don’t hate everyone here,” Jenny said.

“Perhaps one or two are acceptable,” Lester allowed. He felt that was incredibly generous of him. Must be that elusive phenomenon called ‘Christmas spirit’.

“One or two what?” Ryan asked, as he came up beside Lester as if out of nowhere. Damned soldiers and their stealth training.

“People.”

“Well, I haven’t met either of them yet, then.”

“Is that why you’ve decided to stop mingling, Major?”

“You mingle,” Ryan said, eyes scanning the room. “I’m ready for a beer and a lie-down, preferably in that order.”

“What a sorry lot you are,” Jenny said, frowning at them both. “Come on, Emily, clearly it’s left up to us. As usual.”

“And Matt,” Emily pointed out. “He’s still out there.”

“Right. Well, I expect Matt simply hasn’t learned the fine art of bowing out of conversation, or he would have been the first one hiding in a corner.”

When Lester’s phone buzzed seconds later with an automated text signifying the arrival of an anomaly alert, it was almost a relief. He caught Matt’s eyes from across the room and watched the man start to weave his way through the crowd.

Lester waited for the call from Jess. “Status?” he said, upon answering.

“You aren’t going to like it…”

-

Becker stood in front of the anomaly in the corridor outside Connor’s lab, EMD at the ready, while Abby and Sarah got the closing device set up.

Connor was gazing longingly at the anomaly. “Can we--”

“No.”

“But it’s been ages since--”

“No.”

“Just a peek?”

“No,” Becker said, and something in his tone must have finally been enough to make Connor relent.

“Fine,” he said, “but it would have been a really great Christmas present. Way better than the Secret Santa. No one wants socks, Becker. No one.”

Becker shrugged. “I thought it was funny.” A bit too funny, probably, as he had given up the secret too soon with his reaction. Still. Worth it.

“Your sense of humour is extremely questionable.”

“Ready,” Abby said, crouched by the device. “Your call, Becker.”

“Close it,” Becker said, and watched as the flickering shards of the anomaly condensed into a tight little ball.

“Have you determined whether anything got through yet, Jess?” Sarah asked.

“Funny you should ask,” Jess said, her voice sounding into Becker’s earpiece. “I think you’re all going to want to see this.”

-

Jess played the CCTV footage for the small group gathered around her monitors. “It’s a bit hard to see, unfortunately. But just look closely.”

“There,” Abby said after a moment.

“What? Where?” Connor asked.

Jess focused in as much as possible, though it made the footage somewhat grainy. “They’re very small.”

“Are they rats?” Becker was squinting at the screen. “Squirrels?”

“Hard to tell,” Abby said. “We’ll need to get a closer look. In person.”

“Awesome,” Connor said, grinning broadly. “That’s nearly as good as going through the anomaly.”

“I don’t understand you people,” Becker muttered. “Right, let’s find the buggers.”

When Abby and Connor moved to follow Becker, Sarah remained next to Jess. “Can you follow them on the CCTV? See how many came through, and where they’ve gone?”

Jess nodded. “That’s what I was working on before you got here. Let me watch it again, but it looks like a whole family group might have come through, perhaps ten or so? I’ll pull up all the camera feeds from near Connor’s lab and radio you with what I’ve found.”

“I’ll help. Give you an extra set of eyes.”

“Thanks,” Jess said, and kept her gaze on her monitors while the rest of them trooped off.

-

“These should hold them,” Abby said, pulling a couple of cages out from a closet. “Then we can release them through the anomaly all at once.”

“Provided we catch them all,” Becker felt obliged to say.

“All right, Mister Pessimism,” Connor said. He picked up one of the cages. “Where to now? Jess?”

“We’re looking at twelve of them in the ARC, as far as Sarah and I can make out,” Jess said over comms. “They came through mostly together, but they’ve since broken into small groups as they explore. There’s one just down the corridor from Connor’s lab, it got cut off from the rest.”

“Copy that,” Becker said, already on the way out. “Eyes open,” he directed the others.

Of course, Connor kept up a steady stream of conversation as they walked. It made it more difficult to listen for any indication that one of the creatures was nearby, but Becker had got relatively good at tuning Connor out.

He heard something, and held up his hand. Connor obligingly stopped talking.

The little creature was barely bigger than half a foot long, and looked a bit like a shrew with a long snout and really big teeth. It bared said teeth at them and skittered away.

“What the hell is it?” Becker asked. “Mini Scrat?”

“Basically, yeah,” Connor said, and Becker gaped at him. “No, I’m serious. I remember reading about this. They called it… _Cronopio dentiacutu_ s. Recent discovery, found in Argentina.”

“Cute,” Abby said. “If we do miss one, maybe--”

“Don’t go getting any ideas,” Becker warned her, and started to stalk the creature down the hall, finger on the trigger of his EMD.

Abby grabbed his arm. “You don’t think you’re shooting it with that, do you?”

“That’s what I was planning, yeah.”

“You can’t!”

“Please,” Becker said, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. “You take away my guns, and now you want to take away my fake guns? It won’t kill it.”

“It might,” Abby said, stepping in front of him to block his way towards the creature. “Even on the lowest setting, with that big thing, who knows what damage you might cause? You can try one of the baby EMDs--”

“Never,” Becker interrupted, appalled. He still didn’t know why Matt had had them made, not when they looked like something tiny and decorative for a woman to put in her handbag.

“That’s what they’re there for,” Connor said. “So we don’t have to chase rodents around?”

“You get one, then. I’ll catch the damn thing myself.” Becker shoved his EMD at Connor and went off after the creature, hoping he’d be able to find it again.

“For goodness sake,” Abby said, sighing, but Becker could hear them both following him.

They didn’t want him to shoot the blasted thing? Fine, he would do this their way.

-

The drive back to the ARC was mercifully not completely terrible, and they made good time returning from the party. Of course, that was in no small part due to Major Ryan’s skill behind the wheel. Though Lester couldn’t quite condone speeding, he wasn’t going to complain about time saved. There had been a small kerfuffle leaving, given they were the guests of honor, but simply citing that there was a small emergency involving prehistoric creatures went a long way towards getting people to leave you to your business.

“Can’t even leave the office for a few hours without you people getting into a scrape, can I?” Lester said, striding over to Jess’ station. She was sitting there with Sarah, the two of them looking over CCTV footage.

“We have it under control, actually, thanks,” Sarah said. “I believe Jess told you there was no need to interrupt your party. Unless you were hoping for an excuse to leave?”

Lester frowned at her. “I require no excuses, I assure you.”

“No, he does what he pleases and lets everyone else deal with it,” Jenny said, her red lips curving up with amusement.

“I didn’t see you asking to be left behind.”

Jenny lifted and dropped her shoulders in what somehow managed to be an elegant-seeming shrug. “Never know when you’re going to need a good cover story.”

“Sit rep,” Ryan said, clearly done with small talk. He was squinting at Jess’ monitors, trying to assess the situation.

Matt looked similarly anxious and Lester couldn’t deny it was best to get on with it.

“Becker’s got everyone chasing after the creatures,” Jess told them. “Small mammals, like I said. They’ve caught one, but they’re little and quick. It’s, um,” she paused, biting her lip in what looked to be an effort not to laugh.

“They look very silly,” Sarah finished. “Becker nearly fell on his face lunging after them.”

At which point Jess lost her private battle and giggled out loud, the other women all smiling with her.

To Lester’s surprise, Matt laughed as well. “I hope you’ve got that saved.”

“I’ll make you a copy,” Jess promised.

Though Lester thought Ryan looked as though he would quite like to see that footage himself, the major remained professional. “Have they tried setting up traps?” Ryan asked.

“No, Becker’s got into one of his stubborn moods,” Sarah told them. “Abby said he wasn’t allowed to use the regular EMDs so he’s determined he can catch the creatures all on his own to prove... Oh, who knows what he thinks he’s proving.”

“That I have a blood pressure problem, I expect,” Lester said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Go on, go and do what I pay you people for.”

“Sir,” Ryan said, nearly smiling as he went off with Matt.

“Shall we go along to help let cooler heads prevail?” Jenny said, making a sweeping gesture with her arm.

Emily nodded firmly. “I believe Ryan is sensible enough for all of them, but we might as well help him. Anyway, perhaps we’ll get to see Becker fall on his face in person.”

Jenny laughed, and Sarah said, “Oh, now I’ve got to come, too. Will you be all right, Jess?”

Jess waved them all off. “It isn’t like I’m not used to it.”

“Right,” Jenny said. “But first, I need to get out of this dress, and I imagine Emily feels the same way. It will only take a second.”

The women left, with Jess casting a wistful look after them.

Lester shifted his weight uncomfortably. He wondered if he ought to say something, but he wasn’t sure what it should be.

So he simply sat down in the chair Sarah had vacated and said, “Are you tracking the creatures over the CCTV?”

Jess’ grateful smile was nearly enough to make up for the dreadful evening he had been having.

-

Emily had frequently had cause to appreciate Jenny’s advice to always keep a spare set of clothes at the ARC, just in case, and tonight was no exception. If she was going to be clambering around after rodents she would prefer it to be in boots and jeans rather than the tight dress and heels she had somehow allowed her friends to talk her into wearing to the party.

“We’ve got live traps,” Matt was saying to Ryan as Emily, Jenny, and Sarah caught up to them.

“Why don’t you two fetch them while we join Becker, Connor, and Abby?” Emily suggested. “We’ll let them know what we’re planning.”

“You know, typically the team leader does the delegating.”

“Yes, well, you were being slow about it. I simply... lightened your workload.”

Jenny draped her arm around Emily’s waist, squeezing. She smelled lovely, like expensive perfume, and she was warm against Emily’s side. “See? Only your best interests at heart.”

“We’re always thinking about you,” Sarah added, a smirk touching her lips.

“Come on,” Ryan said, putting his hand against Matt’s back to give him a gentle shove. “Let them have their fun.”

“Fun?” Emily protested, pretending to be offended. “This is serious. I make no jokes.”

“Someone enjoyed the free drinks at the party, I think,” Jenny said, her smile bright and warm.

“I might have had one,” Emily said, and let herself lean into Jenny. In truth it wasn’t that at all, she felt perfectly sober. It was only that it was Christmas Eve, and she was here, and she had never been happier. This was what she was meant to do. She was wanted, and needed, and these people cared for her, and she for them.

“You’re so adorable I might puke,” Sarah said lightly, moving ahead of them. “Also? I called this.”

Emily frowned, her eyebrows pinching together. “Adorable.” She wasn’t certain she liked the sound of that. And what had Sarah meant? She... ‘called it’? Called what?

But then Jenny said, “Yes, adorable,” and the way she looked at Emily when she said it made it suddenly seem like the highest compliment anyone had ever paid her.

She could hear the sound of voices, though, and Jenny let go of her as they reached the others. Sarah was already talking to them, gesturing as she spoke.

“That could work,” Abby said, nodding. At that moment, Rex came swooping in and landed on her shoulder. “Hey, Rex. Come to see what the fuss is about?”

He chirped and settled more securely onto Abby’s shoulder.

“There’s at least one in the ventilation system,” Becker said, pointing to the ceiling. “If Danny were here I’d send him on up.”

Rex flew off Abby’s shoulder and disappeared around the corner.

“Thanks for the help,” Becker called.

“Shush,” Abby said, shoving his arm. “I don’t mind going in there, I’m just not entirely sure where to get in.”

“No, I’ll do it,” Connor said, then backed off at Abby’s expression. “Or not? You know, Abby, sometimes people are just helping.”

“Sorry,” Abby said. “But really, I can do it, I’ll--”

Everyone quieted at the sound of a commotion. Emily raised her eyes, because it seemed to be coming from the ceiling.

“Is that--” Sarah started.

A short while later Rex flew back into sight, clutching what was clearly one of the creatures, as if he were a hawk. The little animal was making a squealing sound but Rex didn’t let go until Abby had opened up one of the cages. Rex dropped it in next to the other they had caught. It lay limply, as if it was feigning death, until the other nudged it and they proceeded to get reacquainted.

Rex was now sitting on top of the cage, looking for all the world like a proud cat who had brought its owner a mouse. Emily suddenly had a mental image of Rex clearing Abby’s flat of vermin and stifled a giggle.

“Nice one, Rex,” Connor said. “You’re loads better at this than Becker.”

“Whatever,” Becker said, and ignored them in favour of talking to Jess on his radio.

-

“You think this will work?” Ryan said doubtfully, looking at the trap they had set. Old takeaway wouldn’t have been his first choice for bait, but then, what did he know? He had never owned so much as a pet fish in his life.

Connor shrugged. “Dunno. Scientists think they were probably insectivores, but we haven’t got any juicy insects to use as bait, unfortunately.”

“They’ll never have seen anything like this,” Abby said. “The hope is that they’ll be attracted by the smell and won’t know to be afraid.”

“Maybe it won’t work on all of them, but if we can get a few…”

“Right,” Ryan said, and grabbed the next trap. That was good enough for him. “Jess, tell me where to put this one.”

“Outside the botany lab,” Jess replied immediately.

“You two stay and watch this one,” Matt said to Connor and Abby. “Becker and I will go with Ryan, and Jenny? Can you and Sarah take the last trap?”

“Of course,” Jenny said.

“Jenny?” Jess said. “You might like to take that one back to me. I’m not certain Lester is feeling entirely charitable towards the little visitors we seem to have received.”

Hiding a smile, Jenny said, “On our way, Jess. Do try to keep James in line.”

As Ryan led the way to the botany lab, Becker said, “Your team arrangements feel a bit segregated, Matt. No girls allowed?”

“My teams are arranged highly scientifically,” Matt claimed. “I put a lot of thought into this.”

“Did that thinking involve whose arse you like staring at most?”

“Quiet, or you’ll make me forget why I like you.”

Becker batted his eyelashes ridiculously. “Is it because of my arse?”

Matt reached out to swat at him while Becker ducked, laughing.

Ryan tried to tune them out. He was glad they were happy. He was. He was glad they had found each other, and that they could make each other laugh, because God knew they hadn’t had enough laughter in their lives.

If he might have harbored his own feelings towards them once, well, that didn’t matter. They had chosen each other. Ryan had been alone for enough of his life to not wish it for anyone else.

“Boss,” Becker said, snapping Ryan out of his thoughts.

They hadn’t yet arrived at their destination but Ryan knew at once why Becker had stopped him. Two of the small mammals were crouched in a doorway, watching them with beady eyes.

“Are we absolutely certain I can’t shoot them?” Becker asked.

“Yes,” Matt confirmed, but then he pulled out one of the small EMDs that Becker hated so fiercely. “Me, on the other hand…” He aimed carefully and fired in quick succession, hitting both of the creatures.

“Showoff,” Becker muttered, but Matt only flipped him off.

After setting the trap onto the floor, Ryan knelt down and checked the animals. He could feel the beating of their tiny hearts and see their slow, rhythmic breathing. “Well done,” he said to Matt.

Matt barely acknowledged the compliment. “Still got plenty more to go.”

-

After setting all the traps, it took them more than an hour to round up the remainder of the creatures. Ryan and Becker set the cages down near the anomaly while Connor moved to reopen it.

“What if they don’t go through?” Emily asked.

“I think they’ll want to,” Abby said. “They’ll want to get away from us, and the anomaly is the best way to do that. Survival instinct.”

“If you say so,” Emily said, though she had her doubts. At least the nearby doors were all closed and they were all here, so if one or more of the little things did escape, it shouldn’t be too difficult to herd them through the anomaly.

Besides, she thought, looking at where Rex had perched again on Abby’s shoulder, they would have help.

“Everyone ready?” Matt said. “Connor, open it.”

The anomaly swirled open in rush of light, so bright at close range that Emily didn’t like to look at it straight on. Instead she watched as Becker and Ryan opened the cages. True to Abby’s word, the creatures were eager to leave them behind. In a few moments, all but the two that remained unconscious had run through.

“Please can I--” Connor began.

“If anyone’s going through that, it will be me,” Becker said, his expression set and grim.

Matt hesitated only a second before nodding. “Go ahead.”

Becker nodded tightly, though his eyes were grateful. He picked up the rodents rather gently and then marched through.

Emily barely had time to blink before he returned.

“Close it up,” he said.

Connor locked the anomaly again. “That’s that, then,” he said in satisfaction. “Everyone home safe and sound.”

“Except for us,” Sarah said.

“Right. Um. That is a bit depressing. Technically I’m not sure it’s even Christmas Eve anymore.”

“It isn’t,” they all heard Jess say. “Happy Christmas!”

“This is exactly how I wanted to be spending Christmas morning,” Becker said, casting a glance over to Matt.

“We can still have your perfect morning,” Matt promised, squeezing the back of Becker’s neck. “Still got a few hours. Anomaly’s all taken care of, so we’re off duty now.”

Becker perked up somewhat at that, and let Matt lead him off.

Emily watched them, but she also watched Ryan, who looked significantly less happy as he turned to the rest of them and said, “Well, Happy Christmas. I’m covering the holiday shift, so, enjoy your day, everyone.”

Jenny touched his hand briefly as he passed her and he gave her a weak smile.

“Come on,” Connor said. “Are you all leaving? After all that? I couldn’t possibly go to sleep.”

Sarah and Abby exchanged a look and then Abby said, “Best of three?”

Connor’s entire face lit up. “You’re on!”

“That’s it, though,” Emily heard Sarah say as the three of them trooped off together. “Then I have got to get to sleep, you two don’t know what it’s like having a tiny nephew who can hardly bear waiting for me to arrive with his present at a sane hour.”

Then it was only Emily and Jenny. Emily stood there awkwardly, unsure what to say.

“Got any plans for Christmas?” Jenny asked.

“Me? No, I just… Well, no,” Emily said, hating how pathetic that sounded. She hadn’t any plans, because all of her friends had other places to be. She knew she shouldn’t begrudge them their loves and their families, but it was hard. It was hard to be the one left out. Before, in her own time, while she may not have particularly enjoyed Christmas, she had at least always had somewhere to be.

“Me neither,” Jenny said, making Emily gape at her in surprise. “My parents went on holiday together, so it’s only me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I don’t mind. Much less stressful. I thought I’d have hot chocolate and watch movies. Wrap myself up in a blanket and read a book, maybe.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Emily said, because it actually did. Perhaps being alone didn’t need to be so bad.

If only Emily could banish the stupid, silly dreams of sharing the day with someone special from her head.

“Would you like to join me?”

Emily blinked at Jenny. “I beg your pardon?”

Jenny looked almost nervous, twisting her hands behind her back. Emily couldn’t remember ever seeing her seem so uncertain of herself. “I was thinking that it might be nice. If you were there. Only if you want to, of course.”

This inexplicable sensation of warmth was spreading through Emily, starting from her centre and moving out until she felt as though she’d been given everything she had ever wanted. “I would love to,” she said, and was rewarded by Jenny’s red lips forming a bright, happy smile.

-

“I thought you would be the first one out of here,” Jess said, letting herself into Lester’s office without knocking. “Don’t you need to snatch a few hours of beauty rest for the big day ahead?”

“As it happens, my former wife took the children to France for the holidays. I believe she said something like, ‘Oh, James, you’re always working anyway, you won’t even miss them.’” Lester wasn’t looking at her, his gaze somewhere far away, but his eyes were like chips of ice. “I suppose she was right in the end.”

It took an effort not to cringe. Why had she opened up her stupid big mouth? “I’m sorry.”

“It’s surprising the things one can become accustomed to, after a while.”

“Lester,” Jess said, hating his defeated posture and the tone of his voice because it wasn’t him, Lester was _never_ defeated. “Do you actually think you’re fooling anyone? Least of all me?”

Lester looked at her again. “I wasn’t aware I was trying to.”

“You aren’t accustomed to anything. You miss them so desperately you can hardly stand it.”

“Is that so?”

Jess wanted to hit him, she wanted to slap him right on his stupid face. “This stiff upper lip thing you’re trying to maintain is rubbish. If your ex wanted to take the kids away-- _your_ kids-- then you should have stopped her. You should have fought for them.”

“Do you think I haven’t tried?” Lester said, and now he was angry, his words sharp and clipped. “I fight, and it makes her angrier, and she holds them tighter to herself and farther away from me. And then the bloody ARC happens and I’m gone, I can’t see them, and I can’t explain why, and it makes the children resentful and her ever more determined that I am not a fit parent. Is that what you wanted to hear, Jess? Shall I resume my ‘stiff upper lip thing’?”

Jess wanted to curl up and hide, like a hedgehog, make herself small and forgettable. But she couldn’t, and she was the one who had started this. “My dad was away a lot when I was growing up, too. I hated it, and sometimes I hated him. But I didn’t, not really, because he was my dad. I would have given anything to spend more time with him. Your kids don’t hate you, but they would never forgive you if they knew you had stopped trying. I know it isn’t any of my business and I should never have said anything at all, but… But that’s my advice, and I hope you take it, because whatever you might think, I do care about you.” More than she should, probably.

Rather than looking angry, now Lester only looked surprised. “I feel as though I should say something about respecting boundaries in the employer-employee relationship, but that ship sailed long ago, didn’t it?”

Most of the tension slid out of Jess’ body. “I think it sailed the day you hired me, to be honest.”

Lester actually laughed softly. “That sounds about right. What about you, Jess? Don’t you have somewhere to be on Christmas Day?”

“I do, but… I’d like to avoid it as long as possible. Mum will only nag me about not having a boyfriend, and tell me I work too much and I’m getting haggard, so then I’ll never find a man.”

“How horrid,” Lester said, and the way his nose wrinkled made Jess want to laugh. “I was actually planning on working today. I’m sure I could find some reason for you to need to come in. After all, you are indispensible here and I absolutely need you and I am the worst sort of boss, the one who doesn’t respect days off.”

“You can be terribly overbearing,” Jess agreed.

“Yes. In fact, I believe I might need you straight through lunch. I know for a fact there is perfectly good takeaway still in the fridge.”

“I’d like that,” Jess said, almost surprised at just how true that was.

“Good. Consider yourself working until further notice, Jess Parker,” Lester said, mock sternly.

Jess stepped closer, moving around Lester’s desk so she could bend down and kiss him on the side of his face, just off the edge of his mouth. She felt daring and reckless. When she pulled away Lester might almost have been blushing. “I’ll be sure to tell my mum all about it. How I’m working over lunch with my overbearing yet handsome, older, divorced boss.”

“I don’t think I thought this through properly,” Lester said, which made Jess giggle.

“You really didn’t,” she said, heading towards the door. “I am going to head home for a few hours, though. I need at least a shower and a change of clothes, and perhaps a nap if I can manage it.” Then she stopped, letting that recklessness overtake her again. “Lester, why didn’t you let me come to the party? I was the only one in the ARC who actually wanted to go.”

“It’s simply, really, Jess. I thought you would be a distraction.”

Jess’ mind boggled. “For you?”

Lester lifted his chin, his nose in the air, but Jess could recognise the glint of good humour in his eyes. “Don’t be silly. For the other gentlemen, of course.”

“Of course,” Jess said, and smiled.

-

Ryan sat in his office, a mug of strong coffee sitting atop a pile of papers on his desk. He should probably use the time to actually do some of his paperwork, but he was tired, and it was Christmas, and he was working, and honestly, he would rather sit there and feel sorry for himself.

To be fair, Ryan made the rota for the soldiers. He had scheduled himself to work today. But only so that everyone else could be with their loved ones. Considering Ryan didn’t have anyone to spend Christmas with, he felt it would have been a waste to keep the day for himself.

So here he was. In his office. On Christmas.

He sighed into his coffee.

“My, aren’t you a sorry sight.”

Ryan jerked in surprise and looked up to see Becker leaning in the doorway, with Matt just behind him. He carefully restrained himself from blushing at being caught sulking. “I thought you would have gone by now.”

“Nah,” Becker said, sliding into the room and taking a seat across from Ryan’s desk.

Matt sat in the second chair. “We were going to.”

“And?”

“And we thought we’d come see you.”

“What for?”

Becker looked down his nose at Ryan. “To stop you from sulking, but clearly we were too late.”

Ryan sat up straighter. He was still the ranking officer here, after all. Was it too much to expect a bit of respect? “What about your perfect Christmas morning?”

Becker waved his hand in the air. “Perfect’s overrated.”

“We weren’t going to sleep, anyway,” Matt said, which made Becker snort, so Matt reached over and smacked him. “Everything’s innuendo with you, isn’t it?”

This time Ryan knew he wasn’t able to keep the blush from his cheeks, imagining what Matt and Becker did when they weren’t in bed asleep. To distract himself, he said, “Don’t you have plans for the day? Family?” Well, perhaps not Matt, but Ryan knew Becker had siblings and young nieces and nephews. Not to mention they had each other.

“We decided we were going to spend Christmas together, just the two of us,” Becker said.

“What are you doing with me, then?”

Matt and Becker just looked at each other, like they couldn’t believe how thick Ryan was being. Ryan, for his part, wondered what he was missing.

“We’re keeping you company, idiot.”

Ryan was still missing something. “You’re… you’re going to spend the day in the ARC with me while I’m working? Instead of having your perfect Christmas together?”

“Matt, wasn’t I saying something about perfect being overrated, oh, two minutes ago?”

“You were,” Matt confirmed.

“Thank you,” Becker said. “So. We’re here because we want to share our Christmas with you, Ryan. We’re making a special exception. Just for you.”

“For more than Christmas, if you want,” Matt added.

Ryan sat there, probably looking like the biggest fool imaginable. “Uh. Yes?”

“Right answer,” Becker said, a huge grin on his face that couldn’t not be smug if it tried.

Five minutes ago, Ryan had been certain this was going on the list of his worst Christmases ever. He was pretty sure he was going to have that revise that thought, now.

“It’s too bad you already changed out of your dress uniform, though,” Becker said mournfully. “Perhaps you could put it back on?”

Yes, Ryan decided. This might just turn out to be the best Christmas ever.

**_End_ **


End file.
